Saturday, April 28, 2012

DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SCHWARZEN WITWE - Martin Böttcher - Belina - "The Black Spider" (1963)

    "The Secret Of The Black Widow" is without a doubt a curious movie, and there's a whole lot going on, so let's get this show rolling!

Seems like there was a treasure hunt to Mexico, and one of the members of the expedition was killed mysteriously! The rest of the crew came back to Europe and went about there merry ways until somebody starts killing them all off, one by one!

The weapon of choice is a black plastic spider loaded with fast-acting poison, and apparently fired from an air pistol! Even though black widow spiders are very common in the United States, they must not be in Europe, as it's treated here the same as substances like curare or black asp's venom!

The so-called hero of the movie is an odd bird, O.W. Fischer as investigative journalist for the local rag, The London Sensation, a fellow by the name of Wellby! Although O.W. was supposedly the best paid actor in Germany of the 50's, his place in Hollywood history failed when he was given a shot, and during the filming of "My Man Godfrey," it's said that he lost his memory!

The extremely lovely Karin Dor has the role of Clarisse, the daughter of the explorer who never came back from Mexico! Karin is no stranger to murder and mystery, and was in some great flicks like "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse," "The Carpet Of Horror,' and yet another spider movie, "The White Spider," before this one! Karin was also Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" and is in a film in production this year called "Triple WixXx!"

When questioned why he drinks so much, Wellby tells Clarisse that it gives him courage, enough so, that he's going to ask her out on a date, even though he was much more her senior, and in reality, he really was 23 years older than her!

Nobody looks more stunning than Karin Dor in cashmere and pearls!

And that brings us to the music, and a very interesting little tune sung by Madame Chanson, folksinger Belina, titled "Die Schwarze Witwe," with music that was written by the genius Martin Böttcher, and lyrics by Ute Just and F.J. Gottlieb! Martin Böttcher is also responsible for the rest of the brilliant soundtrack too!

Wellby has brought Clarisse to this dubious nightclub, so that she can hear "Die Schwarze Witwe", a song he thinks will get some sort of reaction out of her, and a song that he believes is the basis for all the spider murdering that's been going down!

To read a full biography on Belina, head on over to This Site! The amazing Belina passed away in 2006 at the age of 81!!

One of the expedition members runs a cool arcade that has bowling, foosball, and vintage pinball machines!

Wellby is an interesting cat, and  when he drinks the magic elixir he carries around in his hip flask, he obtains almost Popeyesque powers in his ability to kick ass! He's a pretty tough olde bird! In this shot, he's taking a shot after getting knocked down, and before he gets back up!

In this car chase scene Clarisse is in charge of the flask!

After this fight scene, Wellby takes a drink, and Clarisse asks him why, and he tells her it's because he didn't have enough time to get a drink before the fight!

After the battle, Wellby strikes a suave and debonair pose!! You might have noticed that at the beginning of the film, he had a beard, but he shaved it off in an effort to look younger, and impress Clarisse!

This movie is filled with shots like this of Wellby stepping in on his boss and her wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shor! To thicken the plot some, besides being Wellby's boss, Mr. Shor was also one of the original expedition members who is now fearing for his life! Mr. Shor is Werner Peters, another staple in films of this ilk, and Mrs. Shor is Doris (When The Mad Aunts Are Coming) Kirchner!

Clarisse isn't exactly the sweet and innocent little angel she appears to be, and can be quite hardhearted and callous when necessary!

The killer strikes again!! This time it's Clarrise's boss who takes the hit!

Mrs. Shor isn't exactly so innocent herself.........

.........Nor is her hapless victim of a husband!

The only one who really know what's going on, is the forever creepy, and Dungeon Hall Of Famer Klaus Kinski, in a rare role as a good guy, Inspector Boyd of Scotland Yard!! Even in this role, he slinks around mysteriously acting like a weirdo, and the viewer doesn't know who he is for most of the movie!!

Friday, April 27, 2012

VOODOO MAN / Monogram Pictures - 1944

It's Friday Forties Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. What we gots is a very entertaining lil' 61 minute flick starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco! Count 'em, three monsters of horror in one film! And, directed by the awesome William Beaudine, who has a staggering 366 directing credits, one for every day of the year!!

Eegah!! has given us a sample of sounds for our listening enjoyment, sooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the lil' atomic voodoo doll, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our soundclip for... VOODOO MAN!

It starts with a car pulling into a lonely country gas station. The owner, George Zucco playing Nicholas, comes out to greet the young woman who has stopped to ask for directions... "Stranger in this part of the country, aren't you?"

Young female motorists have been disappearing around this area. We find out that they are being misdirected with this detour barrier (like in 2000 MANIACS) that leads them to a spooky old mansion where a mysterious Dr. Marlowe and his 'dead' wife live.

There were plenty of cars like these around when Eegah!! and I were growing up. Not sure, but, I think those are a Dodge and a Plymouth.

Dr. Marlowe's played by Bela, he has two helpers who kidnap the women motorists on a deserted road while he watches the whole thing on his state of the art surveilance device. Then, he can flip a switch that turns their car's motor off, stranding them!

But, this pretty kidnapee is soon missed by her nosey cousin... John plays gimpy head goon, Toby, his pal is Pat McKee as Grego.

How do you do?..

Fine, and you?.. Anyway, she gets all hypnotized and the such by Dr. Marlowe's evil eye. The one on your right.

Marlowe has a whole basement full of lovely young girls who are entranced and standing behind glass doors in large cabinets... Man, like to have one of those in my place!

He's a devoted husband to his wife who's been 'dead' (she walks around!) for 22 years! He needs the young women's life forces to be transfered into his wife in order to bring her back to life.

John and George have some mad beatnik voodoo skills you can hear in the soundclip!!

A cool part is where this cut cord ties itself into a knot!

The Sheriff and his Deputy get involved when they find one mesmerized girl wandering around in her nightgown.

It's time for another fix for his wife!

In the end, Dr. Marlowe gets a bullet in the gut for all his effort!

This is a great little flick, go watch it!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

BLACKOUT - Cleo Laine - "Murder By Proxy" (1954)

What can I say? It's a personal problem I have, I like movies with one word titles, and at least one thing is for sure, they're a Helluva lot easier to write about than something with a title like "Night Of The Day Of The Dawn Of The Son Of The Bride Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Terror Of The Attack Of The Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound Zombiefied Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D" made in 1991!

Any movie that starts off with a song like THIS is going to capture my attention each and every time! This is the amazing Jazz singer Cleo Laine, whose God given name was Clementina Dinah Campbell, how's that for a handle? In 1997 Cleo was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by The Queen, for her services to music! Cleo was married to her bandleader, the late Sir John Dankworth!

Here's just a handful of titles that are only one word, some we haven't even got around to yet! Movies like: THINGS, SHANKS, CRAZE, SHOCK, PSYCHO, BEDLAM, CARNAGE, ZOTZ, CREEPERS, IMPULSE, HOMICIDAL, HAUNTS, SHATTER, TERROR, TRAUMA, AND SEIZURE!!

Dane Clark has the role of drunken loser lout Casey Morrow! Casey is in the business of drowning his sorrows! Dane had a very busy career, and was active up into his seventies! He was also in a number of movies and TV shows that had one word titles, stuff like MOONRISE, WHIPLASH, BACKFIRE, BARRICADE, JUSTICE, MASSACRE, CLIMAX, and PURSUIT!

Then, "like the hot kiss on the end of a wet fist," Belinda Lee as Phyllis Brunner struts into Casey's life! This was Belinda's third movie she made out of 33, before being killed in a car crash in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 1961! The blonde beauty was only 25 years old when she departed this sorry old world!

Phyllis has just made Casey an offer he can't refuse, she's going to pay him to marry her! I love the backdrop behind the band!!

Just to prove what an outstanding actor Dane Clark was, is it possible to look any more snockered than this? I seriously doubt it!!!

Well, how 'bout that? This evening seems to be turning out just fine!

Dude wakes up the next morning in the studio of some artiste, and a portrait of a woman who he's not sure he's married to, or is just a dream!!

Suddenly Casey Morrow is up to his ears in deep shit!! Not only is his new spouse missing, her Father has been murdered, and the description of the murderer fits Casey to a T!!

There's something about this still that just ain't right!

Seems like Casey isn't the only one who blacks out on occasion! The resident artiste is the fascinating Elanor (Petticoat Pirates) Summerfield!

My Goodness, would you look at the size of this gal's waist! WOW!!

Casey gets into all kinds of scuffles, has run ins with all kinds of unscrupulous characters, and even stops drinking for a bit before it's all over!

After sobering up, finding a hideout for himself and Phyllis, a long lost reunion with his Mother, and a slew of unsavory other characters and events, Casey finds himself in the unenviable position of receiving the "Huh, what, who are you, I'm engaged, and I don't hang around with third class citizens like yourself," look from Phyllis!

What The Fuck!!

"Blackout" is another outstanding 50's Hammer Terrence Fisher/MichaelCarreras Film Noir minor masterpiece, and is well worth 87 minutes of your time at any given moment! As a double feature with "Stolen Face," it's hard to beat, and can be found at places like Netflix!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??